The Shrink
by Kalaia
Summary: After New York, Tony is having a bit of trouble with panic attacks. Bruce sets him up with a psychologist friend of his. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the Avengers have their own problems. Can she help?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This was written after Ironman 3, but the only spoiler from it is that Tony is suffering from some panic attacks due to his near-death experience in New York during The Avengers. Nothing else from it will be mentioned. **

* * *

"Look Banner, I love you, but I am not going to see a shrink. I'm not crazy."

"That's debatable."

Tony wheeled around and pointed his finger at Pepper, who had just walked into his lab. "Hey! Private conversation." He stood up and walked over to her. "Is that for me?" He grabbed a sandwich off the plate she was carrying.

"Hello, Bruce," Pepper smiled. Bruce Banner gave a small wave from the screen Tony was using to video chat with him.

"Tony, don't call her that. I'm just saying; she's really helped me out before and I really think she could help you with your problem."

Tony was playing with a new design, seemingly not listening. The Black Sabbath had gotten louder. "Uh-huh, that's great Bruce. Glad you had a good time with her."

Bruce rolled his eyes. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose before replacing them on his face. "Look, it's her or some S.H.I.E.L.D guy and I know how much you hate them."

Tony turned to face the screen sharply. "Wait. Hold on, did you just say the S-word? Why would they be sending me someone? Did you say something?"

Bruce sighed. "No, Tony. I didn't say anything, but they've noticed there's been something wrong with you lately. They're the top spies of the world. They're going to see these attacks as a major threat. How can they count on Ironman if he's sitting in a fetal position anytime he remembers New York?"

Pepper glared at Tony. "I thought you said you had a handle on that?"

Tony winced and shot a glare at Banner. "Thanks buddy. And I do have a handle on it. Like I said, I am not crazy, and I do not need to see anyone."

Pepper nodded at him skeptically. "Right." She turned to face Bruce. "Well I think it is a great idea. Bruce why don't you just send me her number and I'll set up an appointment."

"No. No, Bruce put down that phone. Come on—," Tony was cut off as Pepper's phone dinged. "Traitor."

Pepper smiled smugly and got up to walk out of the room. "Thank you, Bruce!"

"No problem, Pepper." Bruce tried to hold back a smile as Tony glared at him.

"I could have you fired, you know."

"Uh-huh. I'll see you later, Tony." The screen went black and Jarvis called out over the music. "Mr. Stark, Miss Potts would like to inform you that your appointment will be at 2pm tomorrow."

Tony threw the rest of his sandwich into the trashcan. "Yeah, thanks Jarvis."

"Is that sarcasm I'm detecting?"

"_Thank you_, Jarvis."


	2. Chapter 2

Sasha took another bite of her sandwich, swinging her legs and watching the little kids playing in the park. It had gotten damaged a bit during the New York attack, but it was recently fixed up. She tossed some bread toward a bird and jumped slightly when her cell phone chirped at her.

"Sasha Brant."

"Hey Sasha."

Sasha couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. "Hey Bruce. How's my favorite client?" She heard him chuckle over the phone.

"I'm good. Hey, you aren't busy with anything right now are you?"

"Nope, just," she glanced down at the tree she was sitting in, "hanging around the park. What's up?"

"Are you still taking new patients?"

"Yup." She popped the p. "Who's the new crazy?" she asked jokingly.

"Um. I'll let you know later. I still have to talk to him about it." She raised her eyebrows. "But I suspect you'll get a call sometime today."

"K. Well thanks for the warning." She laughed and jumped out of the tree. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Take care."

An hour later she got a call from one Miss Pepper Potts. One minute after that Bruce Banner got a text.

'Y didn't u warn me it was Stark? We r def talking about this tomorrow, Mister.'

Bruce shook his head and laughed.

* * *

The next morning Bruce met Sasha in the park with breakfast. They'd switched their meetings to outside after a while. Sasha claimed that it was ten times more relaxing than her office. Bruce thought it was so she could play on the swings. When he got there she was waiting for him. On the swings. He tossed her a croissant and sat down next to her. She immediately began devouring her food. She refused any other kind of payment from him because she felt she already had plenty of other sources of income and believed that Bruce didn't need to talk to her for his mental health anymore anyway. He ate a bagel with her in silence. This was how all their mornings were. Food first, talk later. Sasha's rules.

"So. Tony Stark?" Sasha pursed her lips and glared at Bruce.

"Yeah." Bruce ignored her glare. He knew she was faking it.

"Are all those stories you told me about him true?"

Bruce nodded. "Sadly, yes."

"Right. Ok. And he actually asked for my help?"

"Nope. That was all Pepper."

Sasha nodded slowly. A second later Bruce almost fell off the swing as he was glomped. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

Bruce tried to get air back into his lungs. "Um. You're welcome?" Sasha released him and jumped back on to her swing. He watched as she tried to do some weird circus move…and failed. "Uh, why are you thanking me again?"

She pushed herself off the ground. "Because this is going to be so much fun!"

Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "And you realize he probably already hates you just because of your job."

A giant shit-eating grin spread across her face. "That's the best part!"

"Wha—,"

"Hey, I got you to trust me, right?"

Bruce smiled and stood to help her up. They started to walk down the path.

"Well you've got one thing in common anyway."

Sasha looked at him curiously. "Really? What's that?"

"You're both five."

The other thing the two had in common, Bruce realized as he rubbed his shoulder, was that they weren't afraid of the Other Guy. And that was nice.

* * *

**As you can probably tell...this story will be updated daily with a short chapter. Which I admit I usually won't read stories that work like that...but this story doesn't come to me as fast as other ones do, so I do apologize. Anyways...I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday, and it was completely awesome. You should go see it. If you haven't already seen it like three times. That movie is what inspired this. I also have experiences with panic attacks and anxiety, so I thought...I would have loved to have been able to talk him through those...so, why not?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I didn't feel like turning on my computer because it has "problems" with startup...anyway, slightly longer chapter today to make up for it. Anyone else really want to watch Iron Man 3 again?**

* * *

"Pepper, I'm not going."

Pepper rolled her eyes. This was the tenth time that Tony Stark had said that since he'd woken up that morning. The first had been during breakfast when she reminded him about the appointment. The fifth was during the car ride. They were now in Tony's private jet approximately five minutes away from New York City, where Dr. Brant, Tony's new psychiatrist worked.

"Tony we're already on the plane and I am not riding all the way back to Malibu for nothing." She glanced out the window. "Look, you can see the city already."

Tony glanced out the window and immediately regretted it. He could feel another attack coming on and he _did not _want Pepper around during one of those. He'd done a pretty good job hiding it so far. He shook his head.

"I mean it this time, Pep." He let out a shaky breath as his heart pounded. His ears started to ring. "I don't think I can do this." His breathing grew faster, though it felt like he couldn't get any air. He leaned back in his seat, trying to get control back. He tried to hide it, but Pepper noticed.

"Oh my god. Tony are you okay?"

Tony nodded his head quickly. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'll—," He gasped as a flashback hit him. He was falling. He couldn't breathe. He started to hyperventilate. He was out of his seat before he even knew what was happening and kneeling on the floor. Pepper jumped out of her seat and grabbed Tony's face. The ringing was getting louder and he felt like a jolt of electricity was running through him.

"Tony? Tony!?" Pepper pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Dr. Brant. Hold on, Tony. You're going to be fine."

* * *

Sasha was on her way back to the office when her phone rang. She pulled it out and answered.

"Sasha Brant."

She was immediately assaulted by a clearly panicked voice. Her eyes widened.

"Woah, woah. Ok. Miss Potts? Yeah. Calm down. What's wrong?"

Pepper was still holding on to Tony as he sat there gasping as though he couldn't breathe properly. "It's Tony. I think he's having an attack. It's never been this bad though."

Sasha opened the door to her office and sat down at her desk. "Ok Pepper, describe what's happening." She listened as Pepper talked and pulled out the file she had compiled so far for Tony Stark.

"Ok yeah, you're right. Don't worry, he'll be fine. Hey, how about you put me on speakerphone?" She heard Pepper say something to Tony.

"Ok, you're on," Pepper said.

"Hey, Tony. It's me, Sasha. Well you probably know me as Dr. Brant, or Bruce's friend. Anyways, I need you to listen to me okay? You're not dying, even though it might feel like you are. All of what you're experiencing right now is all in your head, like a bad acid trip." Sasha paused as she thought about that. "Well, all the bad stuff anyway. I want you to try to take slow, even breaths. I know it feels like you can't breathe properly right now, but you can. Your lungs are perfectly healthy, dude. I would know. Pepper's given me your medical files." They were in front of her as she spoke.

Back on the plane Tony was starting to breathe a little slower, though he was still hunched over on the floor. Pepper was rubbing circles into his back. Dr. Brant sounded pretty unconcerned, which helped him relax a little somehow.

"Pepper? Can you help him sit down? Don't try to get him back into his chair, just let him lean against it." Pepper followed her instructions and Tony's heart rate picked up a little again. "Ok. Tony? Keep your breathing even. Nothing's changed, you are still perfectly fine. Why don't you find something to take your mind off your body?" Sasha paused. "Ignore how that sounded."

Tony would have laughed if he didn't feel like it would take the rest of the air out of his lungs.

"Pepper's still next to you right? Pepper? Talk to Tony. Doesn't matter about what, just keep him focused on something. Give him something to play with, whatever, as long as his mind is kept occupied. See if you can get him talking, too. That should help. That's all I can do for now, he should go back to normal in a few minutes. Will you be okay?"

Pepper nodded, then realized she couldn't see her. "Yeah, I think so. Thank you so much."

"It's no problem. Call me again if you need me. I'll see you later."

Sasha hung up and leaned back in her chair. "Well that was an eventful morning." She grinned. "I can't wait to meet them."


End file.
